How Pearl Academy Increased Listen-Through Rate (LTR) Using Programmatic Audio Advertising

 

 

Introduction & Campaign Overview

Pearl Academy is one of India’s most respected institutes for fashion, design, and creative education, known for shaping industry-ready talent. In May 2024, Pearl Academy partnered with Paytunes to execute a focused digital audio campaign aimed at increasing admissions awareness among high-intent audiences. The 10-day campaign ran across premium streaming platforms and combined short audio creatives with companion banners to engage listeners at key moments. Using Paytunes’ programmatic audio capabilities, the campaign directed interested users to a customised admissions landing page, ensuring both relevance and measurable impact.

 

Objectives

• Increase brand reach among audiences actively exploring creative education. 
• Achieve strong Listen-Through Rate (LTR) and Click-Through Rate (CTR) performance. 
• Drive qualified traffic to Pearl Academy’s admissions portal. 
• Reinforce Pearl Academy’s leadership in fashion and design education through audio storytelling. 

 

Strategy & Execution

• Executed a CPM-based buy using audio creatives of up to 30 seconds along with display banners. 
• Focused targeting on female audiences aged 18–24 and 45+, covering students and career-switchers. 
• Activated the campaign across 30+ cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Jaipur. 
• Platform allocation was split strategically across JioSaavn (50%), YouTube Music (30%), and Wynk (20%). 
• Messaging highlighted career outcomes, program strengths, and admissions relevance. 
• Creatives were optimised for mobile listening and supported by clear response-led calls to action. 

 

Key Results & Outcomes

 

 

• Delivered a 1.07× uplift in Listen-Through Rate, consistently exceeding 85% throughout the campaign. 
• Achieved a nearly 2× uplift in Click-Through Rate compared to benchmarks. 
• Recorded a 1.07× uplift in reach, ensuring strong exposure among the target audience. 
• Maintained stable delivery against impression targets while driving meaningful clicks and unique user reach. 
• Demonstrated the effectiveness of digital audio as a performance-driven channel for education brands.
• Platform-wise segmentation showed varied performance, with Wynk delivering a 1.17× uplift, Saavn achieving a 1.14× uplift, while YouTube Music recorded a 0.90× performance against benchmarks. 

 

Device Type Breakdown & Reach Strategy

• Mobile Android
  Dominated delivery with ~87.74% share of total impressions.
  Primary driver of LTR and CTR uplift across the campaign. 
• Mobile iOS
  Accounted for ~10.92% share, representing the second-largest contributor.
  Played a key role in complementing Android reach, especially among premium users. 
• Tablet (Android)
  Very minimal share (~0.6%)
  Likely contributed to incidental or passive listening sessions. 
• Desktop (Other)
  Represented ~0.42% of impressions.
  Minimal engagement; not a core device for audio-based interaction. 
• Smart Home Devices / Smart Watches
  Combined share 0.17%, highlighting negligible interaction on wearables or IoT devices. 
• Tablet (iPad)
  Lowest delivery at ~0.14%, indicating limited usage among the campaign’s target demographic. 

 

Insight: The campaign’s engagement metrics, like LTR and CTR were primarily driven by mobile-first consumption, validating Paytunes’ strategy of focusing on audio delivery across smartphones, where user attention and interaction were most consistent.

 

Pearl Academy Ad Execution –

 

 

Audience Demographics & Segmentation

• Primary focus remained on females aged 18–24 and 45+, capturing both aspirants and decision influencers. 
• Interest alignment included fashion, design, and undergraduate and postgraduate programs. 
• Segmentation by age, gender, and geography ensured contextual relevance. 
• Urban listeners showed consistently high engagement levels across platforms. 

 

Daypart & Timing Insights

• The campaign ran from late May across a 10-day period. 
• Weekday performance delivered stronger CTR momentum, particularly during mid-campaign days. 
• LTR remained stable across all days, indicating sustained listener attention. 
• Slight engagement dips during weekends highlighted opportunities in commuter and evening listening windows. 

 

Geographic Performance

• Strongest engagement came from Tier-1 metros such as Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. 
• Select Tier-2 cities, including Jaipur, Pune, and Lucknow, also showed encouraging performance. 
• Coverage extended across more than 30 locations, aligning closely with Pearl Academy’s campus presence. 
• Urban clusters contributed disproportionately to both reach and engagement.

 

City-wise Segmentation

 

 

The campaign delivered strong city-wise Listen-Through Rate (LTR) uplifts across key urban markets, highlighting higher audience attention in the top-performing cities.

 

• New Delhi recorded a 1.18× LTR uplift, reflecting strong engagement from audiences in the capital region. 
• Hyderabad achieved a 1.18× LTR uplift, indicating sustained listening among digitally active users. 
• Lucknow delivered a 1.16× LTR uplift, showcasing growing interest from Tier-2 urban listeners. 
• Bengaluru posted a 1.18× LTR uplift, driven by high-intent, urban audiences. 
• Mumbai saw a 1.17× LTR uplift, reinforcing consistent engagement in a high-volume metro market. 
• Kolkata matched this with a 1.17× LTR uplift, signalling strong attention levels across the city. 
• Pune also recorded a 1.17× LTR uplift, supported by a young and digitally engaged listener base. 
• Jaipur achieved a 1.16× LTR uplift, highlighting effective resonance in a key Tier-2 city. 

Key Learnings

• Digital audio proved highly effective for education brands, delivering strong LTR and nearly 2× CTR uplift. 
• Platform mix played a critical role, with JioSaavn driving stronger click engagement and Wynk supporting completions. 
• Female-focused targeting delivered consistently high listening quality above industry norms. 

 

Challenges & Solutions

• Minor variations in impression delivery were managed through real-time optimisations. 
• Frequency was maintained below 2.5 to avoid listener fatigue. 
• Weekend softness was addressed by prioritising high-performing cities to protect overall campaign uplift. 

 

Recommendations for Future Campaigns

• Increase investment in top-performing platforms to improve efficiency by 1.5× or more. 
• Extend testing across additional dayparts aligned with admissions planning periods. 
• Combine audio with retargeting on video or social platforms to amplify results. 
• Deepen geo-level targeting in Tier-2 cities to drive incremental reach growth.

 

Audio Attention in the Real Attention Economy

In today’s digital landscape, the battle for user attention is fiercer than ever. The average human attention span has fallen to about 8 seconds—shorter than ever before. Brands must not only grab attention but also sustain it long enough for their message to drive real impact.

 

The Problem: Fleeting Attention on Most Digital Platforms

• Banner and display ads on websites usually keep user focus for only 1.6–2.6 seconds before they are ignored or scrolled past.
• Short-form video ads and reels hold attention for about 7–9 seconds on average before users swipe away or skip.
• This fleeting engagement translates to lower brand recall and minimal action.

 

The Unique Edge of In-Stream Digital Audio

• In the Pearl Academy campaign, only 30-second in-stream digital audio ads (accompanied by clickable companion banners) were deployed—no other audio or video formats were part of the strategy. 
• Here’s why it matters:
  The campaign achieved a Listen-Through Rate (LTR) of approximately 1.07x higher than industry norms.
•  This result means a substantial share of the audience listened all the way through—far higher than what visual formats deliver in the same time frame.

 

Attention Economy Benchmarks (per 100 exposures):

Platform/Format	Avg. Attention (seconds)	Completion Rate (per 100)	Audio Attention Uplift
Banner/Display Ads	2–3	12–18	4–8x lower than audio
Short Video (Reels)	5–9	18–25	3–4x lower
Full Video (In-Stream)	7–10	15–25	3–5x lower
Audio (30s spot)	≥25	70–95	1.07x  higher

 

• Banner ads are rarely noticed long enough to reinforce a message, leading to weak recall.
• Short-form video and reels offer a slightly longer window but are quickly dismissed with a swipe.
• 30-second digital audio ads command undistracted, multitasking-friendly attention, leading to 70-95 more completion events per 100 impressions than most display or short video placements

 

 

Conclusion 

This campaign demonstrated how digital audio, when executed with precision, can deliver both attention and action for education brands. Through Paytunes’ programmatic approach, Pearl Academy achieved strong Listen-Through Rates, significant Click-Through uplifts, and meaningful reach among aspirational audiences during a critical admissions window.

If you want your brand to be heard, remembered, and acted upon, partner with Paytunes to build high-impact audio campaigns that deliver real results.

 

Also Read – Ryan International Schools Audio Campaign Case Study: Driving Higher LTR with Paytunes